


When he's gone

by Bluetamer



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Deathstroke the Terminator (Comics), Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: Art, Batbrothers (DCU), Bruce wayne is an ass in this, Confrontations, Cute, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff and Humor, Good Slade Wilson, Grocery Shopping, Human Trafficking, Illustrations, Jason Todd swears a lot, One Shot, Protective Damian Wayne, Protective Jason Todd, Protective Slade Wilson, Secret Relationship, Slade is such a lonely man, but still he's an ass, even though he only has a small part in this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:47:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27078301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluetamer/pseuds/Bluetamer
Summary: While Dick is away, a certain mercenary has to deal with more than just boredom.
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson
Comments: 6
Kudos: 166





	When he's gone

**Author's Note:**

> BIG thank you to my friend who wants to be nicknamed as "No. 1 simp' for staying with me and editing my work mwah, 
> 
> This whole work is inspired by this fanart (https://twitter.com/Calladraws1/status/1303687173158383619/photo/1)  
> thinking about how Slade can do well with boredom and am also a sucker for domestic and Slade being a softie under his whole persona and stuff. 
> 
> (side note: Dick is in his late 20s in this fic)

"I'll be fine, I’ll just be gone for a couple of weeks," Dick said, placing his neatly folded clothes in his duffel bag. He was walking around their bedroom to pack his stuff while Slade stood by the side.

"That long?" Slade asked with a straight face, trying to hide his worried expression. But to his dismay, Dick knew what he was really thinking, which made him smile. He's also like this when the older man is gone for a job, so he knew what Slade was feeling.

"I'll be back as soon as it's done, you don't have to worry," He gave the man a toothy grin and laughed.

"But I'm allowed to be, aren't I?" Slade mumbled.

"You softie," Dick said as he stood on tiptoes to peck a kiss on the mercenary’s cheek. "My brothers are also there if that would make you feel any better. And B will make sure nothing bad will happen." Dick put on his shoes and grabbed his car keys. He walked to the apartment door, and Slade followed. 

"Even if your brothers are there, they can still be troublesome to manage," Slade scowled, leaning on the wall with his arms crossed. “You didn’t even mention what your mission is." 

"It's gonna be fine, _I'm_ gonna be fine. Besides you have the apartment for yourself without my charming presence," Dick made an imaginary hair flip and grinned. He looked like an idiot. Slade snorted in reply. The apartment will be very quiet indeed. 

"Come back in one piece?" 

"Always." 

And with that, Dick was gone. 

Slade sighed. It's going to be a dull week for him and he doesn't know how to keep himself occupied without Dick never shutting up. 

Six hours have passed since Dick went away. He tried flicking through the channels of the television to see if anything is entertaining to watch, but in the end, he just turned it off. He took out his phone to see if there were any possible contracts to do. 

Nothing. 

He sighed. Time seems to have slowed down without Dick. He had been planning to go out, but now he's not in the mood. This must be how Dick feels, alone and worried. But through the years of being with the young acrobat, he already knows how Dick can entertain himself through boredom with his childish antics. Slade? He hasn't felt bored for years because of his work, but right now? He seems to be relaxed and less tense.

Two days have passed. Slade is in the kitchen, cooking breakfast. The only sound you could hear is the sizzling of meat and the boiling hot water that is about to whistle. After a little bit of cooking, he reached for the plates. Unthinkingly, he took out two when it hit him.

_'Oh right.’_

He shook his head and immediately put the other plate away. He had gotten too used to being the first to wake up and making breakfast while Dick was still sleeping. He prepared his food and then began to eat silently.

_'Damn, this is just lonely.’_ Slade thought to himself.

After his breakfast, he decided to do grocery shopping. The list on their refrigerator isn’t full yet, but he just needs something to _do_. He put on a long plain polo and black slacks paired with formal shoes as he inspected himself in the mirror. 

_'I look like a businessman.’_ He frowned at his appearance. 

He grabbed his black coat and an orange scarf which was hung on the coat rack near the door of the apartment. He debated with himself about whether he should walk or drive to the market, then he decided to walk instead. His reason? To pass time. There are a lot of things that he's not used to doing without Dick by his side.

Slade may have been doing these things by himself through most of his years, but the little bird really rubbed off him. Now he felt a little bit lonely. Whenever they went grocery shopping, there are times when Dick was responsible for handling the list, since Slade keeps insisting on buying whiskey rather than imported goods. Other times, Slade is responsible for Dick because he keeps putting different brands of cereal into the cart to the point that there's no space for other goods. They both have their own childish antics, and the memories make Slade smile.

After walking for a good fifteen minutes, Slade is welcomed by the cool breeze of the supermarket as he enters through the doors. With his tall, broad built and his somber outfit, many of the employees seemed hesitant to greet the man. Slade raised a brow at them as they approached him timidly.

"W-welcome to the Bludmarket, sir," the employee stuttered, but Slade ignored his fearful demeanor and just nodded. He walked past him and at the corner of his good eye, he saw the young man sighed in relief. He took a shopping basket and moved on to one of the aisles. He had brought the list with him but didn't bother taking it out, the only thing is written there were milk and bread.

After he placed the goods in his basket, Slade roamed around the aisles, thinking about what he's going to cook when Dick arrived. He didn't realize he had been staring at the fruit aisle for twenty minutes until a female employee interrupted his thoughts. 

"Er...uh...do you need help finding something, sir?" 

"Not really, thanks for the con—" A message alert coming from his phone cut off his sentence. He grabbed it, hoping it was from Dick, but sadly it was just one of those advertisement emails. He noticed the woman was sneaking a peek of his phone screen, his wallpaper of Dick with a cat filter clearly visible. Slade glared at her for invading his space and privacy, though she didn't seem to notice.

She made a small, condescending cooing sound. "He's pretty, is that your son?" 

Slade nearly choked. Before he could even open his mouth to correct the employee, she was called by one of her co-workers and excused herself. Slade sighed inwardly, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

He doesn't even look that old.

Slade then came across the alcohol section. He looked through various kinds of beer, passing by the wine aisle, and walked directly towards the whiskey section. Dick usually would only allow him to buy one bottle to avoid hoarding, and also because there wasn’t enough space in the cabinet. This time, though, he’s free to finally buy more than one. He held up two bottles to his hands, wondering which one he should purchase. But he can buy both, why is he still hesitant about purchasing them? 

Slade put the two bottles in the basket, staring at them for a while, then frowned. Even without Dick around, he can still hear him whining about buying alcohol when there's more in the apartment. 

Should he buy both or just one? In his head, there are two possible reactions Dick would have if he found out.

One:

_"You bought two more bottles? Slade, we have three more in the cabinet!"_

Or two:

_"Heh, you really enjoyed the freedom, don’t you?"_

Slade preferred the number two, but after considering it for a while, he sighed and placed the two bottles back in their previous spots on the rack.

He walked out of the market, with only milk and bread tucked under his arm. 

Slade arrived home, thinking about how nice it would be to see the young acrobat sitting comfortably on the couch, but all he walked into was a bare living room. No sign of his little bird yet. 

He sniffed and turned away from the empty couch.

A week had passed, and there was still no sign of Dick. Slade positioned himself in their bed with half of his face buried in the comforting softness of the pillows, lack of motivation rendering him unable to get up. Any update would somehow lift the man's spirits, but there was none. 

It has been a difficult week, trying and failing to do anything other than his daily routine. Finally, he decided to take a quick shower. To Slade, no matter how annoying it was, it wouldn’t be a morning without hearing at least one Disney song being loudly belted out from the bathroom while Dick was taking a shower. The sound of running water echoed through the room, and the steam enveloped him as he opened the shower room. Slade closed his eyes, letting the warm water run on his frame.

_It’s so quiet,_ Slade thought as he walked out of the bathroom, rubbing his wet hair with one hand and holding his phone in the other. He keeps checking for any news about the bats or Justice league, but still, nothing out of the ordinary. He almost considered reading a book to pass time, something he’d only do when he’s desperately bored. He decided to clean his swords instead. He hadn’t been keeping them in shape for the past weeks, which was uncharacteristic of him. He took a short break and checked his phone for the time, but all he could focus on was the wallpaper of Dick, he stared at it for a moment, flushing slightly. 

_'What are you doing right now?’_

Slade went to the kitchen to make himself a light snack. Opening the cabinet, he again was reminded of Dick, with three boxes of cereals sitting next to each other while his bottles of whiskeys were crammed to the side. Slade groaned to himself and shut the door, snack forgotten. He crossed his arms and glared at everything in sight. At this point, he wanted to pick a fight with an inanimate object that reminded him of Dick.

He wasn't like this with Adeline. Why was this different? 

**_-_ **

**_Three weeks later_ **

Slade had been patrolling the streets of Bludhaven while Dick—Nightwing—was gone. He was starting to get kind of worried. He’s desperate to call, text, or do _anything_ , just to make sure he's alive, at the very least. In the back of his mind, though, he knows that calling might jeopardize Dick’s mission, whatever it is. At this point, all he can do is wait.

Dick hasn't been on a mission this long since they started living together. Slade knows it shouldn’t bother him so much, but it does.

It's one am, and he just finished patrol and ate dinner alone. Again. He took a long sip from his glass of whiskey, letting the strong taste travel down his throat. He took a peek at the living room window and almost choked on his drink. Three of the Batkids were jumping from roof to roof. If they were here, then where the hell was Dick? Slade quickly put his uniform back on and started tracking them down. He saw them all land on Dick’s old apartment building. Did Dick go back there? But if he did, he should have texted him right away. 

"Evening, gentlemen, '' Slade greeted them, coming up from behind. The three bats immediately tensed up and glared at the old man. Subtle as they were, Slade could see each of them preparing to attack.

"What the fuck are you doing here, Slade?" Red Hood demanded, taking his gun out of its holster. 

_Ah. Right._ He and Dick had been keeping their relationship a secret from the Batfam. 

Feigning malignancy, he sneered at the three. "Haven't seen the bluebird in a while, thought I’d let him know I had a contract here." A lie, of course. Dick would castrate him if he ever killed someone in his beloved city. “Hmm. Shall I pass the message through one of you?”

"What business do you have with Grayson?" Robin asked protectively, unsheathing his katana from his side. 

"Nothing, just the usual." He crossed his arms and smirked. "Taunt him, fight him, making his blood boil—maybe all of the above? Depends on how I’m feeling at the moment, to be honest. Now tell me, what are you three bats here for?" 

"That’s none of your concern! We’re stopping you right here, right now. We’re not letting you kill whoever's in your contract! " Red Robin raised his bo staff, ready to take a swing. 

Slade groaned inwardly. In all honesty? He doesn't really want to fight right now.

"Engaging me without Nightwing’s supervision? My my, those are some big boy moves,” he jeered. They gritted their teeth, and their hold on their weapons tightened. The sight of them aggravated made Slade grin under his mask. Dick or no Dick, he enjoyed taunting the baby birds. They were always so easy to mess with.

"I was expecting you to say the big Bat rather than him, I knew there was something fishy going on.”

Slade turned to Red Hood, narrowing his eyes, but Red Hood suddenly shot two bullets, which he easily deflected. Robin used this as an opportunity to strike while Red Robin swung his staff at the mercenary’s leg to throw him off balance. But the plan failed as Slade braced his arms on the ground and used enough force to jump right up, kicking both birds and sending them backward. 

Red Hood then kicked the older man hard on the chest, hoping to make him fall off the apartment building, but Slade took out his sword and pinned it to the walls, the noise of descending rattled his ears just to land on the ground without damage. Red Hood stared down into the alley where Slade dropped in. Seeing him having trouble taking out his sword, Red Hood turned to the vigilantes behind him.

"You go get Dick’s stuff, I'll handle Deathstroke," he instructed the two birds. Tim gave him a quick nod while Damian protested, wanting to fight alongside Red Hood. 

"No! I want to face Deathstroke!" He whined. Damian's temper was always difficult to handle, especially during a patrol.

"Hellspawn now's not the right time! Pack Dick’s bags and head straight back to Gotham." Jason cracked his knuckles. "I have some personal shit to settle." 

"I don't take orders from you, Todd! Whatever Deathstroke is planning for Grayson, we gotta act immediately!" 

Jason saw Deathstroke take out his grappling hook.

_Shitshitshitshitshit_.

"Robin, for once just fucking listen!" The little robin widened his eyes and Tim blew out an awkward whistle. Damian glared at Jason, then huffed. "Fine, but I'm only doing this for Grayson." Robin turned to follow Red Robin, but not before sending a final warning to his oldest brother. "If he didn't give you answers, I’m hunting him on my own!”

The kid’s unwavering loyalty to Grayson makes Jason feel a little more relieved because whenever Damian wants to do stupid shit, a threat with Grayson’s name can make him shut up. Damian was a pain in the ass; he never listened to anyone and was always acting all high and mighty. Dick is the only one who knew how to deal with the little brat’s tantrums properly. Jason wished he was here now.

"Yeah sure, whatever!" He flapped his hand at the kid, signaling him to go away. Jason could hear Tim arguing with Damian that they should be prioritizing who the contract kill is, but he ignored them and leaped to the alley where Deathstroke was waiting. He landed with a large _thud._ Deathstroke quickly took out his sword, but Jason held up his hand at him, which made Deathstroke pause.

"Look, I‘m not here to fight," Jason said. He dusted himself off and dropped his hands to his sides. “I wanna have a talk with you, big guy." 

"Oh? About what? How to hide a dead body? " Slade goaded him, secretly hoping that whatever Jason wanted to be ended up circling that subject instead. 

“Very funny.” No matter how much the young man wants to punch the mercenary in front of him, he has to wait. Some things needed to be set straight.

“I know about you and Nightwing," Jason said bluntly. Slade tried to keep his face neutral, but Red Hood’s piercing stare made him sigh and admit defeat. There was no getting out of this, the little bird's family is filled with detectives after all. 

From what Slade knew, Jason got along well with Dick, more than any of the other batfam members. No matter how rebellious and aggressive his nature was, he could be reasonable and reasoned with, always understanding the situation before engaging in it with full force, unlike their youngest bird. But Slade didn’t expect that Jason _knew,_ especially when it seemed like the other two were still in the dark. Did he keep it a secret from them? Slade couldn’t tell, but he was going to find out.

"Let's talk somewhere...unreachable." Slade didn't want those two other birds eavesdropping on this particular conversation. Jason nodded in agreement. They ended up on the roof of his and Dick’s apartment building, which Jason clearly did not know that it was theirs. Slade took off his mask to see the young man clearly.

"Okay, first off, I wanna know if what you said about the contract is real." Jason crossed his arms. " I know Dickwad won't let you do that shit in his city." 

_True._

"It’s not, I said that to cover up why I'm here." Suddenly a bullet shot his shoulder, Slade let out a small groan and crouched down, using his knee as leverage to not completely fall. For a few miserable seconds, he stayed down, struggling to pull the bullet out. The metal bullet bounced on the ground. He slowly looked up at Jason, gun in hand, pointed at him.

"That was completely unnecessary." He glared. His wound was already healing, but still. That had hurt like hell.

"I know, it's a warning shot. Lie and I'll shoot you again. Make a wrong move and that bullet’s going through your head. But I don’t want to do that. Not yet, anyway.” Jason kept his gun pointed at Slade. “Let's start with basic questions." 

“Are you manipulating him?’’

Slade sneered up at him ignoring the question. “You really think you have the upper hand here, huh? Think you’re real tough, like your big brother?” 

Jason tapped his gun to the chin of his helmet."Hmm, interesting, interesting, not the answer I was looking for." He shot him again.

"JUST TELL ME THE FUCKING TRUTH!" 

Slade grunted. He understands the anger coming from the young man but he just wishes that he stopped shooting him for fuck’s sake. He may be a meta, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t _painful._ Not to mention how irritating it was to have to repeatedly pull out bullets from his flesh.

"Calm down, I'm going to tell you the truth, it's not like I enjoy being wounded." Slade grunts between his words, pulling out another bullet. 

"Bullshit! I know he used to be your Renegade, don’t even fucking start!" Jason straightened the hold of his gun at him, tightening his grip.

"And that's one of my biggest regrets," Slade replied. Finally recovering from his second wound, he stood up, towering over the young man, who still had the gun pointed at him.

"Then why? Why are you still with him? If you regretted it, why won’t you leave him alone?" 

"Because I…care." Slade wanted to say that he loved Dick, but his brain held him back. Which was a stupid thing, even though it was out of character for him to say the word love. Because was he even capable of truly loving again? Even as he blindly, helplessly does now?

Jason made a fake cooing sound. It kind of reminded Slade of the condescending grocery story lady, in the weirdest way possible. "Awwww, you care? Care about what?! What about him did you care about?” He spat at him. “I’ve heard stories Strokey, and they ain’t my cup of fucking Earl Grey tea.” 

“My actions in the past were cruel. I know I won’t be forgiven, but Richard—he keeps insisting that I am at least capable of doing good now.” Slade shifted, focusing his gaze on the nightlights of Bludhaven. It’s true. He knew he would never forgive himself either, but Dick’s blindingly bright and hopeful faith in him makes him believe that maybe his life is a completely lost cause.

Jason snorted at the man's response. “Oh yeah? _No shit._ Dick sees the good in everyone, so don't feel special.”

_Okay, that kind of stung._

“Would you believe me if I said that I’d let you finish me off if I ever tried to hurt him?” 

“Try?” Jason let out an angry laugh. “ You already did that to him years ago!

That's the reason I’m angry! Because you already did! I won't hesitate to put a bullet through your skull if I didn't know that you and Dick had a thing!”

“Then why don’t you do it?” Slade demanded. “You can kill me right now so that Dick can be free from me. But why won’t you do it?” 

“Dick…” Jason sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “He...he already had his heartbroken. So many times. From so many different people. I don’t want to ruin...this. Whatever it is you guys have.” He gestured at Slade with the gun. 

“And...he looked so happy when he came back to the manor that first night, okay? And he really was happy. And I was happy for him. I thought he finally found a good-ass partner to be with, then it turned out to be you.” Jason lowered his gun, suddenly conflicted. He didn’t know whether he should just trust his brother, which would make Dick happy, or if he should just push the mercenary off the roof, which would make _him_ happy. 

He let out a frustrated sigh, then raised the gun at Deathstroke again. “But you're a liar, aren’t you? A sociopath. I bet you manipulated him." He cocked the gun.

"I'm fully aware of what I am,” Slade admitted. “But I didn’t. I would never.”

_Not with him._

For a few seconds, they just stared at each other, a gentle breeze blowing through the night sky. Jason looked at the older man straight in the eye, daring him to show any sign of malignancy, anything that would give him a reason to punch him in the face. He _wanted_ there to be a reason to do so. But there was none.

"Okay…….okay...okay. Okay. I see it now. Okay." Jason nodded his head a few times before removing his helmet and dropping it carelessly on the ground. He ran his fingers through his black and white hair, not breaking eye contact with the mercenary.

"So. What do you want with Dick?”

"If you think that I'm using him, no, not this time, but I get it. You have the right to assume that.”

"Yeah I have every fuckin right, why do you think I’m confronting you now?" Jason scoffed, crossing his arms.

“ _Touché._ ”

Jason pinched the bridge of his nose, still irritated that this is happening. He wanted so badly to just let Dick be happy, but really? Him? "Look...I hate you...we all fucking hate you, no one likes you and I don’t care. This is just too hard to process. I’m SO very sorry if you’re not going to convince me so easily.”

Slade rolled his eyes. “Okay. I know that already. Let’s move on.”

“You can degrade me like a grade-schooler all you want but yeah, let's cut to the chase.” Jason stared at him for a good moment and finally tucked his gun back into its holster. 

_Oh, thank God._

"We have a lot of shit to discuss. But I still don’t trust you" 

Slade snorted. "I can clearly see and feel that. Now, what happened to Richard?" 

"Well, we better start at the beginning.” Jason licked his lips. “He...A month ago, B has been keeping him under pressure. Dick got too deep into stress and it started to affect his performances during missions."Jason stated.

"What is his current mission? He hasn’t come back to our apartment yet." 

"You two are living together?... Oh, for fu—god. Never mind. It was a human trafficking ring." Jason paused. "For...experimentation." He spat the word, venom dripping in his tone. Slade’s stomach dropped just hearing it. 

"Then Rich-" 

"He's fine....he’s been unconscious for a week but he's awake now. He keeps insisting on having his phone at all times. And now I know why." 

"Unconscious? How? What happened to him?" Slade demanded.

"Lackey got a jump on him and took him away from us and before you hunt the dude down, I already made his death look like an accident.” 

Slade breathed a sigh of relief.

_‘Well thank God._

“The facility was a huge prison cell. We found Dick after 4 hours of searching, he was strapped on a table, unconscious, though amen to the Lord that we weren't too late. I was the only one in the group who could carry Dick properly, while B was facing their ring leader.” He tapped his finger on his chin then pointed it at Slade. "Then, while I was carrying him, I could hear him mumbling something, I think it was along the lines of ‘help’ and ‘Slade’."

"My first thought was, what the fuck? So I did some snooping. After a week of playing Sleeping Beauty, the first thing Dick did was look for his phone. Our whole family was worried for him, so they told him to rest for a while. While they were arguing, I took the opportunity to take a peek at his phone. Wanna know what I saw?” 

_So that's how he found out._ Slade just stared blankly at him, ignoring the daunting question.

“A lot of pictures of you two, the oldest ones dating back from four years ago.” Jason's tone was slightly incredulous, slightly condescending. "Am I mad at him for hiding this? Yes. Should I tell him that he’s making a horrible mistake? Maybe? But I’m years too late to judge.”

“When...when do you think he'll come back?” Slade asked softly, changing the subject. Now that he knows that his little bird is in the Manor, he was mentally creating a plan to sneak in to see him. Then again, it probably wasn't worth risking the whole batfam finding out.

“After a few more weeks, I guess, depends on B." Jason shrugged. ”He's already fine, they just all thought that there’s some kind of drug in his system that made him feel down. I know for a fact that he’s just missing you, but I for one didn't want to tell them that."

_Dick missed him._

“Hm, I see." Slade kept his voice even, but a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

“Aw, don’t cry, Backstroke,” Jason said mockingly, imitating a crying gesture. Then he went back to being serious. “I’ll convince them to let Dick leave home without compromising you two, expect him to be back in a day or two.”

Slade's head shot up in surprise. “ I--Thank you, Jason.” 

“Thank me again, I’ll shoot your other eye out,” Jason said point-blank. Slade waved his arms in surrender. “Okay, so, this is how we’ll do shit from now on. We will keep this conversation to ourselves and ourselves only, as far as anyone is concerned, this never happened. I’ll pretend to be naive about the two of you since Dick didn't want anyone finding out, and if ever he opens up I’ll just act like I‘m surprised and shit.” 

Slade nodded slowly. "That's fair."

“Remember, I’m doing this for Dick because he's been through enough, you of all people should know that. Remember, he doesn’t play with people's hearts no matter who they are, he’s also the one fucking thing that keeps this family sane.” Jason shot a threatening glance at Slade.”Fuck it up, and those warning shots will land straight to your heart.” With that Jason left, his figure slowly fading as he jumped from roof to roof. 

Slade sighed, deep and heavy. He's pretty lucky that it was Jason who found out, not the others, especially not the younger Robin, who thinks a diplomatic conversation involves swords and stabbing. 

Then again, he did get shot twice tonight. 

_I guess I’ll see you in a few days, little bird._

**-**

It’s seven in the morning, and Slade heard a ping from his phone. Lazily, he grabbed it from the nightstand and looked at the name. It was Dick. His eyes widened, and he quickly sat up in bed. He let out a small laugh as he read Dick's text message.

_I’M FINALLY COMING HOME BJKBCCDCSBCHKNKS SORRY I TOOK TOO LONG, PREPARE YOURSELF CUZ I HAVE A LOT TO COMPLAIN ABOUT_

Next to the text were a string of emojis, mostly crying faces. A wide smile spread across his face as he typed out his response.

_‘Can’t wait to hear them’_

**-End-**


End file.
